2016 (P) Lincoln Shield Cent - SKH-1c-2016-01 Spiked Head

Description

This spiked head for the 2016 Philadelphia Mint Lincoln Shield Cent establishes that obverse dies were cracking into the bust during the seventh year of Shield Cent production. Like every spiked head, it is a crack in the obverse die running from the rim into Lincoln's bust, filled with metal during striking. The resulting raised spike on Lincoln's portrait can vary dramatically in appearance depending on how far the crack has run and how wide it has opened, and the -01 sequence number marks the initial documented occurrence for 2016-P. Philadelphia Mint cent production in 2016 remained in the billions, and the large number of die pairs consumed across the year's run made cracked dies of this kind all but certain. As the founding entry in what would likely become a growing catalog, SKH-1c-2016-01 provides the reference point against which subsequent 2016-P spiked heads are compared. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins, this variety joins a continuous chain of Shield Cent spiked heads spanning every year since the design's introduction, showing that these die cracks come with high-volume production rather than with any particular date.

Cross References

• Cross reference: none. 06/01/2016.

External References